Filling machine



R INVENToR. Edward G. Bder.

ATToR lY.

' May 27, 1941. E. G. BAUER FILLING MACHINE Filed July 15, lesa Patented May 27, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FILLING MACHINE Edward G. Bauer, Hoopeston, Ill., assignor to Food Machinery Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application July 15, 1938, SerialvNo. 219,413

1 Claim. Y (Cl. 226-129) discharged into the cans is productive of various undesirable results, among which may be mentioned the waste of material and fouling of both the cans and the machine. The material thus wasted is not only a direct loss to the canner, but necessitates frequent cleaning of the machine, as well as the cans, which latter, obviously, must be clean and bright to be acceptable to the trade. Moreover, where labels are to be applied to the cans, the adherence of even a slight amount of material to the exterior of the cans may prevent the labels from sticking.

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide for the connement of the splash referred to, whereby to avoid loss of material and prevent the same from fouling the machine or cans.

Another object is to reco-ver the splash by catching it and returning it to the containers being filled.

A further object is to accomplish the aforesaid beneits by means of a. simple and inexpensive attachment, which may readily be applied to conventional filling machines, without necessitating any structural modifications therein, or in any way interfering with, or aifecting their normal mode of operation.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a portion of a conventional lling machine, having the present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the splash guard.

One well known and widely used type of lling machine with which my invention may be used to advantage is illustrated and described in U. S. Letters Patent to Thomas Martin, et al., No. 1,506,851, dated September 2, 1924, and while it should be clearly understood that the invention may be used to equal advantage with other types of lling machines as well, I shall, for the purposes of this disclosure, illustrate and describe the same as it `may be utilized in connection with a machine of the type disclosed in the patent rev ferred to. In this connection, the accompanying drawing illustrates only so much of the structural details of the filling machine as is deemed necessary in order to enable a proper understanding of the present invention; reference being made to the aforesaid' patent for other details of ther machine with which 'the present Yinvention is not concerned.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the reference numeral I indicates a revolving cylindrical tank mounted upon and driven by a `vertical drive shaft 2 and forming a reservoir for the liquid to be filled'. Secured beneath the tank for rotation therewith are a series of pump cylinders 3 provided with pistons 4. The pistons 4 are vertically reciprocated by means of piston rods 5 which ride over a camway (not shown) therebeneath. The upper ends of the cylinders 3 are o-pen to the interior of the tank I through its bottom, but are covered during the major portion of their travel by means of a stationary cut off plate E snugly overlying the tank bottom and secured to a sleeve 1, which surrounds the driveshaft 2, and is rigidly secured at its upper end to a bracket 8 carried by the framework 9 of the machine.

The cutol plate B is apertured or cut away over a portion of the path of travel of the pump cylinders 3 as at I0, whereby the upper ends of. the cylinders are uncovered as they pass beneath the apertured portion of the cut-off plate to permit flow of the liquid from the tank into the pump cylinders.

Each of the pump cylinders 3 is provided with a discharge passage II communicating with the interior of a nozzle I2 secured to the side of the tank and having a reciprocating slide valve I3 therein, the slide valve being operated by a cam roller 4 which rides over a cam track I5 secured to the framework of the machine. The circular can table I6 secured beneath the lower ends of the cylinders 3 serves to support and convey the cans in registry with and beneath the discharge ends of the nozzles I2.

'I'he tank I, pump cylinders 3, nozzles I2 and can table I6 are mounted to revolve as a unit with the drive shaft. In operation, as each cylinder 3 passes beneath the apertured portion Ill of the cut-oli plate 6, the associated valve I3 is in lowered position to close the discharge passage Ifl and the piston 4 is lowered at this time to draw a charge of the liquid fro-m the tank into the cylinder. As the tank continues to revolve,

the cylinder again passes under the cut-off plate, after which the valve I3 is lifted to uncover the discharge passage I I and the piston 4 is elevated to discharge the liquid from the pump cylinder through the nozzle I2 and into the can positioned therebeneath. The filled can is discharged from the machine and replaced with an empty one by means of a can feeding and discharge' mechanism not shown, and the cycle of operations described abovey is repeated, it being understood that the same :cycle of operations as described takes place in connection with eachof the pump and nozzle units in succession.

It will be observed that in the operation of the machine, the discharge of liquid from the nozzles into the cans therebeneath, may, and frequently does, result in more or less spl'ashing, which may be coarse or only a mist, but in either case having the undesirable results heretofore referred to. In order to confine and recover this splash or mist, I provide a splash guard or shield I'I adjacent the lower end of each of the nozzles I2. These guards, as illustrated, may be in the form of inverted truncated cones, each having a central sleeve I8, provided with a passageway I9 therethrough, for registration with the discharge passage of the nozzle with which it is associated. The upper end of the splash guard sleeves I8 may be split as at 20, and provided with ears 2| through which pass the clamping screws 22. By the construction just described, the sleeves Illl may be slipped over the lower ends of the nozzles I2 and clamped in position thereon. If desired, the lower ends of the nozzles may be of reduced diameter, as illustrated, to receive the sleeves I8, although this is obviously not essential. A screen 23 may be interposed between the nozzles and the splash guard, if desired, the same being held in place between the end of the nozzle and an annular abutting shoulder 24 formed on the inner surface of the sleeve. The screen 23 is useful under some conditions to strain out foreign matter from the liquid being filled. It may be omitted, if desired.

The diameter of the splash guard I-I is preferably larger than that of the cans being filled, and it will be observed that any liquid or mist arising upwardly out of the can during the filling operation will be intercepted by the under surface of the guard, which thereby shields the machine and the cans against it. Moreover, owing to the sloping surface of the guard, the liquid which collects thereon gravitates downwardly towards the axis of the nozzles and drips back into the can. Both the machine and the cans are thus protected against the splash, and the latter is returned to the can from which it emerged, and is thereby recovered.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications in the form an-d structure of the illustrated embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and I deem myself entitled to all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the claim hereto appended.

I claim:

In a rotary filling machine for filling a continuous series of cans or the like with liquid or semi-liquid material, having a reservoir for the material, a series of nozzles to discharge the material from said reservoir into the cans, and means to support the cans beneath said nozzles in filling position: a guard on the discharge end of each nozzle, said guard having a frusto-conical surface on the under side thereof inclined upwardly and outwardly with respect to the axis of the can, said surface extending outwardly beyond the upper rim of the can and being spaced apart from said rim to provide an annular space through which air displaced from the can during the filling operation is vented, whereby drops of liquid and vapor rising from the interior 0f the can during the filling operation will impinge on said surface, the liquid collecting on said surface then flowing by gravity down the inclination thereof to` be 'returned to the can.

EDWARD G. BAUER. 

